Owner-reported financial limitations negatively impact emergency veterinary teams.

Objective: We aimed to explore the impacts of owner-reported financial limitations (oFLs) on emergency veterinarians and technicians and their opinions about some novel approaches to addressing access to care challenges.

Methods: Anonymous, internet-based survey of small animal veterinarians and staff at emergency hospitals in the US.

Results: While over 425 people responded to the survey, results are presented for 207 veterinarians and 154 technicians. Nearly 95% of the veterinarian respondents reported seeing clients with oFLs impacting care of the pet at least weekly, and nearly 75% reported seeing conditions that could have been prevented if the pet had more regular veterinary care at least weekly. A significant proportion of respondents reported being bothered by being unable to provide care when clients had oFLs, with more technicians expressing distress than veterinarians.

Conclusions: Having clients with oFLs is common in emergency practice and impacts the care that can be provided as well as the well-being of the care team. More options for affordable emergency care are needed.

Clinical relevance: Results suggested that emergency room veterinarians commonly work with clients with oFLs and that having clients who cannot afford recommended treatment for their pets causes moral distress for veterinarians. Exploring options to increase access to care on a practice and community level should help to reduce moral distress for practitioners and expand the reach of emergency and urgent care services.